U.S. Bank has teamed with debit fintech Greenlight Financial Technology to help parents teach financial literacy to their children. 

“U.S. Bank is the first financial institution to offer Greenlight through an embedded mobile app experience,” Brandon Horne, general manager of partnerships at Greenlight, told Bank Automation News. “We were able to have Greenlight’s tech embedded in the U.S. Bank mobile app in less than 90 days.”

Some 91% of kids and teens believe they need financial knowledge and skills to achieve their life goals, and 94% of parents agree, Horne said, citing a Greenlight survey. 

Greenlight aims to help fill this gap by providing parents with family banking and education products, he added. 

“Using Greenlight, parents can automate allowance, manage chores, set flexible spend controls and send money instantly while kids get hands-on money management experience,” Horne said. 

Amex buys Tock, Rooam 

Financial services giant American Express has agreed to buy reservation and event management platform Tock for $400 million. 

Amex will acquire Tock from website building platform Squarespace, a June 21 Amex release stated, adding that the acquisition is part of an effort to expand services in dining, travel and entertainment. 

Amex also announced that it will acquire the mobile payments platform Rooam for an undisclosed amount, the release stated. 

“Restaurants are one of our largest card member spending categories within travel and entertainment, with $100 billion in volume in 2023,” Howard Grosfield, president of U.S. consumer services at American Express, said in the release. “Now, we can connect even more premium customers with the most exciting restaurants, while providing merchants and restaurants more technology to help their businesses thrive.” 

Kompliant, Merrick Bank join forces for onboarding 

The $5.9 billion Merrick Bank has selected Kompliant to improve its onboarding experience and will use the service provider’s compliance solutions, according to a June 13 release. 

Kompliant will help Merrick Bank onboard merchants and “remove a lot of the manual process,” Leo Patching, chief executive of Kompliant, told BAN. 

“The solution is driven by the data entered, so [Merrick Bank] can capture just the information they need from the application [or PDF documents] of the business,” Patching said. “It also gives them just enough friction so that you can approve them for the [credit product] that they are applying for.” 

Kompliant’s solution works as a “shadow underwriting tool,” which helps Merrick Bank go through compliance requirements and underwriting processes during onboarding, Patching said. The automated solution can reduce document processing time by nearly 90%, he added. 

Merrick Bank will use Kompliant’s solution through an API, but the fintech can also provide its solution through a low code integration or on-premises service, Patching said. 

First Horizon Bank selects nCino’s Banking Advisor tool

The $81 billion First Horizon Bank has selected cloud service provider nCino for its recently launched AI Banking Advisor, according to a release from nCino on June 17. 

The tech provider’s adviser can help bankers: 

• Interact with documents or PDFs by asking the chatbot questions; 
• Write deals or credit memos using intelligent automation; 
• Ask questions to determine best next steps for the business based on data-driven insights; and 
• Answer banker questions based on any uploaded document. 

“Banking Advisor is a tool that bolsters the power of our single platform and provides additional operational efficiencies,” Edwin Estrada, principal product manager of gen AI at nCino, told BAN. “We are developing additional skills as we get feedback from our customers so that there is a comprehensive skill library that augments bankers’ tasks and time.” 

Several nCino customers from various locations and various asset sizes participated in the company’s closed beta program, including $3 billion Northern Bank, Estrada said, adding that many other financial institutions are in the pipeline to start using the solution this year. 

Visit Bank Automation News’ Transactions Database, which lists the technology selected or acquired by companies in the financial services industry, with a specific focus on technology that enhances automation.

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